Governors

The Governing Body is a key part of the leadership team of the school, working in partnership with the Headteacher and Senior Leadership. In accordance with the Government’s requirement for all governing bodies, the three core strategic functions of the Governing Body of Fair Oak Infant School are:
 

1. Ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction;

2. Holding the Headteacher to account for the educational performance of the school and its pupils;

3. Overseeing the financial performance of the school and making sure its budget is well spent.

Our Governors bring a wide variety of experience and expertise to the school. This helps ensure that the school is continuously moving forward, maintaining and raising standards in a way that is in line with the culture, ethos and vision of the school.

Governance Arrangements

The Governing Body of Fair Oak Infant School was re-constituted in March 2017 and is made up of 1 Staff Governor, the Headteacher, 3 elected Parent Governors, 1 Local Authority Governor and 7 Co-opted Governors.
 

Co-opted governors are appointed by the Governing Body and are people who, in the opinion of the governing body, have the skills required to contribute to the effective governance and success of the school.

The full Governing Body meets once each half term, and, in addition, we have a number of committees to consider different aspects of the school in detail. At Fair Oak Infant School, we have a Finance and Resources Committee, focusing on finance, premises and personnel, and a Standards Committee, focusing on curriculum, pupil progress and attainment.  All meetings have continued this year as planned, but the majority have been held virtually.

As a Governing Body we also have a Pay Review Committee which meets once a year to ratify all pay awards to members of staff and a Headteacher’s Performance Review Committee to manage the performance of the Headteacher.
 

We also have committees that meet, if required, to consider pupil discipline and staffing matters.

Most governors become Lead and/or Link Governors and are appointed to oversee, monitor and report on specific aspects of the school, such as Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Safeguarding, Health and Safety and Internationalism or specific subjects like English and Maths.

Governors' Training

Governors have continued to attend training this year to develop their knowledge and skills. 

There have been two training sessions for the whole governing body: The Governors' Role in Monitoring the Curriculum and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.  

Individual governors have attended training in the following areas: Pupil Well-Being in Primary Schools; Safeguarding Children; Understanding Health and Safety in Schools; School Buildings; Holding Leaders to Account; Understanding the Governor's Role in Monitoring and Evaluating SEND, Understanding Finance in Schools; Tackling Bullying in Schools - The Governors' Role; Understanding the Primary Curriculum; Induction for New Governors; Ofsted; Strategic Leadership; Handling and Resolving Complaints; Chairs and Headteachers Working Together; Development for Chairs; Policies - Evaluating Their Impact; Autism Education Trust Governor Training; Understanding Data in Primary Schools; Understanding Personal Matters; Performance Management Training; Staff Well-Being.

Attendance Record of Governors

The Department for Education requires us to publish the attendance record of each governor at meetings over the last academic year (2020/2021). This is included below.

The work that we have done as a Full Governing Body

The main priority and focus for any governing body is School Improvement.  Governors are encouraged to ask robust and challenging questions to ensure that they are fulfilling their three core functions.
 

The full Governing Body receives a comprehensive report from the Headteacher every term covering all aspects of the School Improvement Plan, and information about progress towards targets and attainment.

They also receive reports and updates from the Committees and from Lead and Link Governor monitoring visits, as well as making sure that all statutory responsibilities are being met.  

Standards Committee

The committee is responsible for:

• Monitoring and evaluating the curriculum provision and standards of attainment in the school.
•  Scrutinising all pupil progress and attainment data.
•  Monitoring the quality of impact of interventions to support pupils who need additional assistance with their learning.
•  Monitoring the impact of the use of Pupil Premium Funding and Sports Funding

A particularly important aspect for the Standards Committee to focus on this year has been the monitoring of home learning/ online provision and how the school has been ensuring that children catch up with missed learning.  Whilst there has not been the same national data available this year, the committee has spent time analysing internal data and discussing progress for all children with senior leaders in the school.  A key part of our role is to challenge and support aspects of pupil progress ensuring high quality outcomes for all.  Governors have questioned and challenged the provision in the school and can report that the planned curriculum, and the teaching, is enabling children to catch up and achieve well.  Provision during the lockdown was comprehensive and age appropriate.  The impact of interventions that have been put in place and which continued both for children in school and those at home during the Spring lockdown, has been that children have got back on track quickly and any gaps in learning are being addressed. 

The Committee regularly reviews the School Improvement Plan and raises questions about the priorities of teaching and learning.  This year there has been particular focus upon the new curriculum that has been put into place across the school. The governors have continued to see evidence of a broad, balanced and well considered curriculum that has a clear intent and is well implemented across all subjects.  

There have been many opportunities to scrutinise the approach of the school.  The lockdown limited the usual Link Governor visits to school but monitoring still took place utilising technology.  Regular governor visits into school have started again during the second half of the Summer Term.

Resources Committee

The committee is responsible for:

• Monitoring and evaluating sections of the School Improvement Plan relating to the leadership, finance, staffing and resources of the school.
• To establish, monitor the impact of, and review all the school's plans, policies and procedures relating to staffing, finance, leadership and management, buildings and health and safety.  
• To recommend to the full governing body which Service Level Agreements to sign up for.

One of the important aspects of the Finance and Resources Committee is to draw up and review the annual budget for approval for the full governing body and submission to the LA in line with the statutory guidance and timescales. This also incudes reviewing whether the school and relevant staff are managing finances in accordance with the school's scheme of financial delegation and control and complies and complies with the requirements of the School Financial Value Standards (SFVS).  The committee also spends time monitoring and evaluating expenditure by the school to ensure that spending provides best value and is linked to the schools agreed priorities.

Governors are encouraged to question any spending that looks unusual or larger than expected or transactions that they are not familiar with.  They also review SLAs and other areas of the budget to advise where any further cuts could be made without detriment to the School or Children.  Benchmarking against similar sized schools would also support the fact that Fair Oak remains exceptionally prudent with their finances ensuring spending is for the benefit of the children and their education.  This is supported with a new proposal to replace outdoor learning space and playground equipment – all of which is fully supported by the Governing body.

In addition to Financial Accounts, one of the other important reviews is surrounding staffing and health & welfare.  Governors are accountable and responsible for ensuring (in conjunction with the head teacher) that all health and safety requirements are implemented and followed. Also that health and wellbeing is promoted within the staffing, this includes the addition of a new coffee machine which allows teachers to enjoy a latte or cappuccino.  There have also been numerous discussions centred around the impact of Covid 19 for teachers, support staff and children.

Staff have also been very supportive of the Head Teacher’s plan of action during CV19 and the Governors have all been encouraged by how well all staff have coped through this uncertain and unprecedented time.

Staffing structures are also reviewed on an annual basis, along with training and development of staff and governors to ensure this is linked to the school’s agreed priorities and monitor the impact of training on standards. 

The Committee also ensure all SLAs are regularly reviewed and have assisted with interviewing Catering tenders along with other ad hoc interviews for teaching staff.

Finances are well controlled by the Head Teacher, supported by the Finance Officer with spending remaining well within the set budgets.  The Head Teacher has also been asked to visit other schools to advise on where they can improve their financial position. 

Vicky Hart

Chair of Finance & Resources Committee

Pay Committee

The Pay Review Committee reviews the Headteacher’s evidence of staff performance against targets and uses this to determine the level of pay awards, if any, for individual members of staff.

Headteacher Performance Committee

The Governing Body carries out the annual appraisal of the Headteacher.

The appraisal process allows us to look closely at the performance of the Headteacher, have discussions about areas of strength and weakness and set new targets against which the Headteacher’s performance will be reviewed.

How you can contact the Governing Body

We always welcome suggestions, feedback and ideas from parents. Please contact the Chair of Governors via the School Office.

The membership of the Governing Body at Fair Oak Infant School

Record of Governors Pecuniary Interests - July 2021

The Department for Education requires us to publish a record of governors' pecuniary interests. These are detailed below.